Highly excited atoms in an intense low-frequency electromagnetic radiation field

B. B. Nadezhdin, Eugene Oks

Dima L. Shepelyansky

O. B. Prepelitsa

The multiphoton ionization of a bound electron state which is twofold degenerate with respect to its orbital angular momentum is considered in a quasiclassical approximation. It is shown that the ionization probability increases strongly in an intense electromagnetic field, in which nonresonant mixing of the levels forming the degenerate state is significant, in comparison to the case described by the Keldysh formula. It is also shown that such degeneracy leads to a sharp increase in the intensity of the radiation scattered by the bound electron, and the high-frequency cutoff of the emission spectrum is shifted to higher frequencies.

Nikolai B. Delone, В. П. Крайнов, Dima L. Shepelyansky

Elena Kuznetsova, Reed Nessler, Olga A. Kocharovskaya +1 more

Abstract The interaction of three and two-level atomic systems with two electromagnetic fields, a weak near resonant high-frequency and a strong off-resonant low-frequency ones, is analyzed by applying the method of multiple-scale perturbation theory. We consider two examples: (1) a three-level Λ system interacting with a weak XUV field at the high-energy transition and a strong IR field at the adjacent low-energy transition. The IR field will periodically Stark modulate the energy of the most excited state, which will result in generation of sidebands of the XUV field at the frequencies multiple of the IR field modulation frequency; (2) a two-level atom interacting with a weak near-resonant high-frequency and an off-resonant low-frequency field, which is related to the quantum amplification by superradiant emission of radiation problem.

R. N. Compton, Adila Dodhy, John A. D. Stockdale +1 more

Multiphoton ionization (MPI) of alkali atoms has played a pivotal role in our understanding of the interaction of intense electromagnetic radiation with matter. The "hydrogen-like" energy levels and absence of low-lying autoionizing states make the alkali atom theoretically tractable. The low ionization potential of these atomic species and the ease with which one can produce atomic beams of alkali atoms facilitate the experimental studies. Many of the early MPI studies involved high-powered fixed-frequency lasers. Presently, the availability of tunable dye lasers with wavelength extension (i.e., frequency doubling, Raman shifting, etc.) makes it possible to study one- to six-photon ionization of the alkali atom with continuously tunable radiation. Also, harmonic generation in these systems which may be present during ionization can be recorded more easily than in other systems since the radiation generated is in the visible or near ultraviolet spectral region. The ability to tune the laser to high Rydberg states with even or odd numbers of photons accesses electronic states of both parities. Stepwise excitation is capable of selectively producing states of high orbital angular momentum. Experiments in which highly excited states are produced in external electric or magnetic fields allow one to test fundamental ideas about the electron–Coulomb system in the quasi–continuum.3